Soda Makers to Post Calories on Vending Machines

By

Mike Esterl

Oct. 8, 2012 6:07 p.m. ET

Coca-Cola Co.KO1.28%, PepsiCo Inc. and Dr Pepper Snapple GroupDPS0.50% will start displaying their drinks' calories on vending machines next year and point consumers toward less sugary versions, their latest response to critics who have singled them out for contributing to the nation's obesity epidemic.

ENLARGE

The project, which will first launch in Chicago and San Antonio, Texas, aims to stop the spread of anti-soda measures in city halls after New York City moved to limit portion sizes and other cities weigh taxes on sugary beverages to lower consumption and raise revenue.

It also coincides with heightened efforts by federal authorities to help Americans slim down. McDonald's Corp.MCD0.70%—another target of public-health groups—last month began displaying calorie counts on its menu boards across the country ahead of new U.S. restaurant-labeling requirements expected to take effect by the end of 2013.

Soda companies said Monday they will display messages such as "Try a Low-Calorie Beverage'' and add calorie labels to selection buttons on vending machines in municipal buildings in Chicago and San Antonio in January. The machines will start being introduced in other cities in 2013, part of a national rollout expected to take a couple years.

The American Beverage Association, an industry umbrella group, also is giving a $5 million grant to help pay for a "wellness competition'' between public-sector employees in Chicago and San Antonio that will measure weight and other health gauges.

That stands in sharp contrast to the war of words between the soda industry and authorities in New York City, where health officials voted last month to ban the sale of sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces in restaurants, mobile food carts, delis and concessions at movie theaters and stadiums. Industry officials say they're exploring legal options to try to stop the measure, which is slated to go into effect in March.

The partnership with Chicago and San Antonio "puts the spotlight on ways to do things collaboratively,'' said Susan Neely, president of the American Beverage Association, which has spent millions of dollars to try to thwart serving-size and soda-tax proposals in other cities.

Cambridge, Mass., is studying New York-style curbs after Mayor Henrietta Davis asked the city's health department in June to make a recommendation to limit the size of soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages served in restaurants. Baltimore passed legislation this summer increasing a city levy to 5 cents from 2 cents on most containers of sugar-sweetened drinks. In California, the communities of Richmond and El Monte will vote in November on ballot measures to tax sugar-sweetened drinks. More than two dozen states already levy special taxes on sweetened drinks.

Three studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine last month offered evidence linking sugar-sweetened beverages to weight gain. One of the studies, by the Harvard School of Public Health, found those who drink a large number of sugary drinks and are genetically disposed toward obesity are at greater risk of weight gain from consumption of such drinks.

Soda companies argue they have been unfairly singled out and that sugar-sweetened beverages contribute only 7% of the calories in the average American's diet. The soda industry also says caloric intake from sugar-sweetened beverages declined by more than 20% between 2001 and 2010, even as obesity rates continued to rise.

In recent years, soda makers have rolled out smaller soda bottles and cans for consumers to choose from, while also introducing more versions of low- and zero-calorie drinks. They've also removed full-calorie sodas from schools and more clearly labeled calorie counts on the front of beverage containers.

ENLARGE

Soda companies said they will display messages such as 'Try a Low-Calorie Beverage' under a pilot program.
American Beverage Association/Associated Press

Diet brands made up 29.1% of soda consumption in the U.S. last year, according to Beverage Digest, a trade publication and data service.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a public-health advocacy group, praised calorie counts on beverage vending machines as a positive step but voiced concern that deals in which cities accept money from the soda industry pose risks.

"It's very dangerous for cities to take this kind of funding because it makes them beholden to the industry and reluctant to mount harder-hitting information campaigns or levy taxes on soft drinks,'' said Michael Jacobson, the group's executive director.

Chicago and San Antonio officials said they didn't provide any guarantees to the soda industry that they'll tread lightly in the future, but suggested some other cities have over-reached in regulating soda.

Jaime Castillo, a spokesman for San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, said Mr. Castro is focusing "on providing greater access and opportunity for San Antonians to make healthy choices rather than outright bans.''

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